What happened
Shares of the medical device maker Medtronic (MDT 0.14%) were down by 5% on heavy volume as of 10:53 a.m. ET Thursday. The big loss came after the company reported its 2023 fourth-quarter results ahead of the opening bell today.
Although Medtronic topped Wall Street's consensus forecasts for the three-month period, investors appear to be reacting negatively to the company's financial guidance. Management announced its 2024 outlook as part of today's fourth-quarter report.
So what
Turning to the specifics, management said that it expects fiscal-year 2024 organic revenue growth between 4% and 4.5%. Wall Street's midpoint estimate, by contrast, stood at a modestly higher 4.88% prior to today's guidance.
What's weighing on Medtronic's outlook? Management blamed a stubbornly strong dollar and persistently high inflation for this softer-than-expected financial guidance. To counteract these headwinds, management said it is "taking measures to reduce costs across the company ... ."
Now what
Is Medtronic's stock a buy on this dip? I think so. The company's softer guidance is the result of macro headwinds, not an issue with its core operating segments. In fact, the business is performing well overall.
Speaking to this point, it recently scored Food and Drug Administration approval for the MiniMed 780G insulin pump system, and announced a collaboration with chipmaker Nvidia to accelerate the introduction of artificial intelligence into healthcare. So, all things considered, this top healthcare company will more than likely be able to overcome these unfavorable dynamics.
